Who is more successful in The Iliad? Achilles or Hector?

In the Iliad, both Achilles, who fights for the Greeks and Hector, who fights for the Trojans display heroic characteristics and they try to win glory in battle. They each have certain strengths and weaknesses.  Despite the similarities, they have obvious differences in their approaches to fitting the heroic mold to which they both try to conform.

Achilles, a half god and a half beast, Achilles is the son of Thetes, a goddess. On the other hand, Hector is an ordinary man and his armour is not made by Vulcon.

Achilles has all the marks of a great warrior and indeed proved the mightiest man in the Achaean army, but his deep seated flaw of self pride and anger is constant. Homer addresses the anger of Achilles by saying -"Anger ring, goddess, the anger of Achilles …which brought the Greeks endless sufferings ". 

On the contrary, Hector is very calm and quiet. At the end of the first day's battle when Hector returned to his city, at once the Trojan wives and daughters came running to him to enquire anxiously about their husband and fathers. He answers these questions calmly. And then he went to the palace and met his parents, wife and children.

Hector is a true patriot. According to some critics he is more human than Achilles. Hector says -"No wine for me, my dear mother; You will cripple me and make me forget that I must fight ". Hector decided to fight for his country. On the contrary, Achilles is very selfish as he would not take any care of his nation. He seems to only care about his own pride and selfish intentions. Even in the extreme crisis moment of Greek force, he withdraws from the battle because of his war prize has been taken by Agamemnon.

For Hector, war "is a necessary evil" in which he "fights bravely, but reluctantly". On the other hand,"Achilles is a man who comes to live by and for violence ". When engages in fighting, "his attacks against the Trojans are unnecessarily brutal and pitiless", as he succumbs to a lust for vengeance. To Achilles, nothing is better than killing someone and seeing them suffer.  

Hector is more human. He is not invincible, as his battle with Ajax shows. He longs for peace. In simple terms he is a human hero. Achilles, in many ways, lacks ordinary human feelings. However, Hector is more successful as a hero.